The present invention relates generally to valves, and more particularly relates to check valves and/or pressure relief valves.
Check valves are used in a wide range of fluid applications for preventing fluid flow from reversing in a fluid passageway. Often times, manufacturers choose to incorporate check valves that use a spherical ball as the movable valve element due to the fact that the balls in these valves are inexpensive and simple. However, such a selection has often been at the sacrifice of durability of the conical valve seat against which the ball seats in the closed position to prevent fluid flow. Specifically, in existing ball valves, the ball tends to wander radially as it linearly reciprocates within the enlarged bore of the valve housing. This causes the ball to impact the conical valve seat at different radial points which causes increased wear and/or indents in the valve seat that in turn can cause leakage. This is especially evident on applications like gas inlet check valves used on natural gas engines with precombustors.
In light of the above, it is a general aim of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and durable check valve that overcomes the difficulties existing in the art.
In accordance with these and other objectives, the invention is directed toward a guided ball check valve in which the ball is guided by the bore to prevent radial wander. The guided ball valve comprises a valve housing having a bore. A valve seat is provided at a first end of the bore. Axial grooves or flow channels are provided in the guide wall of the bore to provide means for the passage of fluid through the check valve when open. A spherical ball slides in the bore between a closed position in which the spherical ball is seated against the valve seat and an open position in which a gap is formed between the spherical ball and the valve seat. The spherical ball has diameter substantially equivalent to that of the bore such that the guide wall of the bore engages and guides the spherical ball as the spherical ball linearly translates between open and closed positions.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.